In Lewis Carroll’s poem The Hunting of the Snark, in the fifth fit, there is a description of various absurd characteristics of the Jubjub bird. One of them is
And in charity-meetings it stands at the door, And collects – though it does not subscribe.
I’m not sure I understand a single word of this. Google seems to think that a “charity meeting” is a meeting of the board of directors of a charitable organization, but I don’t think that’s what Carroll means here. I guess it’s some kind of event for collecting contributions to charity? I would then tentatively guess that “collects” refers to taking people’s contributions. But what is “subscribes”? Is that making a promise to donate? But if people are just making promises at this meeting rather than actually handing over cash, then what is being “collected”? And does “stands by the door” have some particular significance, or is that just an incidental description to fit the meter? Can anyone shed any light on this verse?
Bit of both. It conjures up the image of a fundraising event with people on the door to collect donations rather than passing a tray or box around. And of course being near the door makes it easier to abscond with what you’ve collected (especially if you’re a bird).
Additional 19th century usage of subscribe that fits Carroll’s verse:
Does not itself accept or believe, eg 'I don’t subscribe to your idea"
Is not a member of the organisation (analogous to card-carrying or badge-carrying) that is running the charity event, and so is unusual in doing a job typically done by one of the members or office-holders.
Charity meeting is a common-enough phrase. In Australia it was commonly used for horse races where profits or a part of the take were promised to charity.
In the context of Carroll’s poem, it could refer to an entry fee forming the charitable contribution paid at the door, or there being a subscription through promises of money from the attendees. Or both.
I’m surprised that the scenario seems foreign - is this another common thing from my life that is now baffling ancient history?
I would take “subscribe” in this context to mean either a promise to contribute on a regular basis, or else to be a member, which probably also includes a regular contribution.
I don’t see any indication in the quoted part that the bird is running away with proceeds. It seems more to highlight the hypocrisy of collecting money for a cause from other people while not contributing oneself.
Isn’t “Jub-jub” what Patty and Selma called their pet iguana or lizard or whatever it was?
When I do a search on this, one source says that it’s particularly a criticism to the Banker. The crew that comes to land consists of six people - the Bellman, the Boots, the Barrister, the Broker, the Billiard-marker, and the Banker. It says that the Banker took care of all the money while taking a huge fee for taking care of it. There is also a Beaver, who doesn’t come to land with the rest of the crew.
The poem suggests that the Banker wants to keep as much of the money as possible. He is eventually killed by the Bandersnatch, it appears. It’s suggested that the Banker is like the Jub-Jub in collecting money for a group that he doesn’t contribute to.
This is correct. It’s associating itself with charitable objects and implying its dedication to the cause by being one of the people who collects donations from meeting attendees, but it’s not actually dipping into its own pocket to support the charity.
LOL at the rather sensationalist modern interpretation of outright embezzling the donated funds, though! What’s being made fun of here is a well-known Victorian version of “slacktivism”, not full-on criminality.